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A STATEMENT 

FROM 

Governor Hugh M. Dorsey 

AS TO 

The Negro in Georgia 



.93 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

nscavsB 
MAY 181921 

DOCUMEISTS u.V:S10N 



Atlanta, Ga., April 22, 1921. 

TO THE CONFERENCE OF CITIZENS 
CALLED TO MEET THIS DAY AT ATLANTA; 



A. The negro Lynched — 

B. The negro held in peonage — 

C. The negro driven out by organized lawess- 

ness — 

D. The negro subject to individual acts of 
cruelty — 

Under these four headings, in the following 
pages I have grouped 135 examples of the alleged 
mistreatment of negroes in Georgia in the last 
two years. Without design, or the knowledge 
of each other, Georgians, with one exception, have 
called these cases to my attention as Governor of 
Georgia. The exception noted was the appeal of 
two negroes to Washington for protection. Their 
appeal was forwarded to me, as Governor, with 
the request that I should act if I could do so with- 
out adding to the danger in which the negroes 
stood. 

No effort has been made to collect cases. If 
such an effort were made, I beheve the number 
could be multiplied. 

In some counties the negro is being driven out 
as though he were a wild beast. In others he is 
being held as a slave. In others, no negroes re- 
main. 

In only two of the 135 cases cited is the "usual 
crime" against white women involved. 



As Governor of Georgia, I have asked you, as 
citizens having the best interests of the State at 
heart, to meet here today to confer with me as 
to the best course to be taken. To me it seems 
that we stand indicted as a people before the 
world. If the condition^ indicated by these 
charges should continue, both God and man would 
justly condemn Georgia more severely than man 
and God have condemned Belgium and Leopold for 
the Congo atrocities. But worse than that con- 
demnation would be the destruction of our civili- 
zation by the continued toleration of such cruel- 
ties in Georgia. 

I place the charges before you, as they have 
come unsolicited to me. I have withheld the 
names of counties and individuals, because I do 
not desire to give harmful publicity to those coun- 
ties, when I am convinced that, even in the coun- 
ties where these outrages are said to have occur- 
red, the better element regret them, and I believe, 
furthermore, that the better element in these 
counties and the whole State, who constitute the 
majority of our people, will condemn such condi- 
tions and take the steps necessary to correct 
them, when they see and realize the staggering 
sum total of such cases, which, while seemingly 
confined to a small minority of our counties, yet 
bring disgrace and obloquy upon the State as a 
whole, and upon the entire Southern people. 

The investigation and the suggestion of a rem- 
edy should come from Georgians, and not from 
outsiders. For these reasons, I call to your atten- 
tion the following charges together with a sug- 
gested remedy, which you will find at the end 
of the recital of cases. 

HUGH M. DORSEY, 

Governor. 



THE NEGRO LYNCHED 

COUNTY No. 1 

1. July, 1919, two white men, drunk, went to Case No. 1 

the negro section of a town in this county at 
night. An elderly negro, got his gun and went 
into the streets, it is claimed, to protect the wo- 
men of his race. In the shooting, which followed, 
one of the white men was killed. 

The negro was placed in the jail. The sheriff 
left him there, with no guard, to go to another 
place to get a prisoner. A county commissioner 
hearing that a mob was coming went to the jail 
to remove the prisoner, but could find no key to 
unlock the door. The mob had the key. They 
lynched the negro. 



COUNTY No. 2 

2. In October, 1919, a negro was taken from Case No. 2 
the sheriff, who was carrying him from one county 

to another for safe keeping and lynched. The 
negro was a preacher and teacher. Schools and 
churches were closed on account of influenza and 
the negro went to work for a farmer. 

In a dispute about extra work, the farmer at- 
tacked the negro with an axe. The negro raised 
his gun. The farmer turned and received a load 
of bird shot in the back. The negro fled, but was 
brought back. 

The sheriff heard of a mob threatening and 
removed the negro to another County. The 
sheriff of this County hearing of a coming mob 
started with the negro to another County but 
was overtaken as described above. 

The man shot by the negro is alive. 

COUNTY No. 3 

3. A negro charged with assault upon a white Case No. 3 
girl, was tied to a tree and shot to death in Janu- 
ary, 1921. No indictment has ever been found, 

no arrest made. 



COUNTIES Nos. 4 and 5 

Cnse No. 4 4. A negro murdered a farmer, who had or- 

dered the negro not to hunt upon his farm. The 
negro fled but was arrested and brought back. 
A mob took the negro from the train at a station, 
put him in an automobile, and carried him back 
to the scene of his crime, where his bullet-riddled 
body was found hanging in a tree. 

COUNTY No. 6 

Case No. 5 5. A negro was suspected of the murder of a 

white woman. He was arrested. The same day 
he was taken from the jail. In the midst of a 
mob of 3,000 people, he was burned to death by 
a "slow fire," the torture being prolonged as much 
as possible. 



THE NEGRO HELD IN PEONAGE 



COUNTY No. 7 

1. (a) In 1920 a negro on the place of a white 
farmer in this County made a crop of 2V2 bales 
of cotton and two 2-horse wagon loads of corn. 
The crop was turned over to the white farmer, who 
claimed that the negro still owed him $118.00. 
In September the negro ran away to Atlanta, 
where he was arrested and carried back and put 
in jail. A brother of the complaining farmer, 
made the man's bond and carried him to his fami, 
where the negro worked a week. He escaped and 
walked to Atlanta, where he was arrested again 
the day that he arrived, February 13, and car- 
ried back again. In his presence, the negro 
charges, the farmer offered to sell him to another 
man, if the man would pay him $55.00. 

The whites deny this, but one admits that the 
other said something about paying him for the 
expense of his Atlanta trip. He says that he 
settled with the negro in December, 1920, when 
the negro agreed to work through 1921 for $12.50 
a month and his board, the farmer agreeing to 
cancel the debt of $118.00. On this new trade, 
the farmer advanced the negro $5.00 and bought 
goods for him amounting to $8.00. The negro 
the same day ran away. It was on account of 
this $5.00 in cash and the goods, that the war- 
rant for cheating and swindling was sworn out. 

The wife of the negro, mother of a girl of nine, 
and a boy eight years old, confirms her husband's 
story with the additional information that the 
farmer knifed her husband while they were kill- 
ing hogs, for some trivial infraction of the 
farmer's orders. 

(b) Another negro worked for the same far- 
mer in 1920. The farmer claims to have paid him 
$15.00 a month and board, and that December 
12, the negro agreed to work during 1021, when 
he, the farmer, advanced $5.00 to pay for a pair 
of shoes for him. That night the negro ran away. 
A warrant for cheating and swindling was sworn 



Case No. 6 



Offer to SeU 



Knifed 



Case No. 7 



Cause for 
Running Away 



Case No. 8 



Arrested 
and Whipped 



Case No. 9 



Fear of 
Death 



out and the negro brought back. The farmer 
made a bond of $50.00 for the negro, who agreed 
to work for him for seven months at $12.50 per 
month and board. 

The negro claims that last year he was to re- 
ceive $25.00 a month, but received nothing but 
a suit or two of overalls, some work shirts and 
shoes. He has received no settlement for last 
year, he says. He admits the shoes being pur- 
chased for him, but says he paid back $2.00 be- 
fore leaving. Threatened with the chain gang, he 
went to work for the last man, but ran away be- 
cause the farmer struck him in the face with 
his fist, and threatened him. 

Cases 6 and 7 were reported to the Governor 
b}^ white officials. 

2. (a) A negro worked for a farmer in County 
No. 7 for the last six or seven years. The con- 
tract called for a certain wage, but the em.ployer 
would pay him what he chose. The negro left 
three or four times, but was always brought 
back. 

The year 1920, he was to receive $25.00 a 
month and board. At Christmas, the negro asked 
his employer how much the employer owed him. 
The man told him $65.00 and paid him $10.00. 
The negro left and came to Atlanta where he was 
arrested and carried back January 26, 1921. From 
Christmas Eve until that date, the negro was at 
his brother's home in Atlanta. 

The warrant for his arrest, charged him with 
assault with intent to murder, committed De- 
cem.ber 27, 1920. He was released, when the 
Grand Jury returned "no bill" against him. The 
warrant was sworn out by the employer. 

(b) The negro described above states that an- 
other negro, now working on the same place, ran 
away in August last. He was arrested and brought 
back, severely whipped and put to work. 

(c) A negro woman working on the same place 
has been there for four years. She states that 
she ran away and reached Florida, but was 
brought back. Both the negro and this woman 
state that the man would kill them, if he found 
that they had talked with anyone. 

Cases 8 and 9 reported to the Governor by 
white officials. 



(d) Two negroes owed a man, on whose place 
they were working, $1,800.00, the indebtedness 
representing food and supplies advanced to them 
during the past 12 years. In December, 1919, 
the two negroes moved to another plantation. 

The owner of the place from which the negroes Case No. 10 
moved and his brother came and carried the ne- 
groes back. The negroes made affidavit before 
the Solicitor General that they left of their own 
account. They are located on the place of the 
brother, who has paid his brother $500.00 on this 
account. 

The man from whose place the negroes were 
taken believes that fear of violence caused them 
to make the affidavit and that the negroes are 
held in a state of peonage. 

(e) A negro was sentenced to 30 days in the Case No. 11 

Fulton County Chain Gang for vagrancy. When 
he had served enough of his time to pay his fine 
excepting $5.00, the son of a farmer in this 
County paid him out. 

With ten other negroes he was carried to the 
man's farm, where they were locked up for the 
night. They were guarded by two armed negroes, 
by day and locked up every night. 

The man stayed from February 1 until Sep- Case No. 12 
tember 1st when he and another negro ran away. 
They were caught, brought back, and whipped. 
The other negro begged to be killed. The white 
owner shot him. A weight was put upon him. 
His body was put in a nearby pond back of the 
owner's home. 

Fifteen negroes were working on the place. 
They were frequently beaten. 

(f ) Another negro was arrested in Atlanta and Case No 13. 
fined $25.00 for keeping late hours. The same Peon Sees Murdei 
white man paid the fine in April, 1920, and car- 
ried the negro to the farm to work upon a promise 

of $40.00 per month, board and lodging. Three 
other negroes were carried there at the same time. 
He remained for four months, when he escaped. 
He was caught and carried back, severely whip- 
ped and locked up. 

He was whipped twice. He claims to have seen Case No. 14 
another negro beaten and then shot by a negro 
for running away, and at the instance of the white. 



Cases 15-23 

Wholesale 

Murder 



Since the investigation, the owner of one of 
these places has been indicted for killing eleven 
negroes on his place. He was convicted and sen- 
tenced to imprisonment for life in one of these 
cases, April 8, 1921. 

His three sons were on April 11th indicted for 
murdering negroes. 

His sons are fugitives. 

The murders are alleged to have been commit- 
ted to conceal the crime of peonage. 



Case No. 24 



Plea for Silence 
Case No. 25 



One Dollar a Day 
for Seven 



COUNTY No. 8 

3. (a) A negro, in February wrote to a man in 

Washington : 

"I am writing you to help me. I am in Trouble. 
I am asking You to Please give my case to the 
State official for me. Now this my trouble is I 
work a farm on shers with a man name Mr. 

and now he is holden all I has 

made and yet claims to hold me still I det to him 
now want me to work for $1.00 a day and board 
my Self out of it and I has four in family and I 
haster feed six mules three times a day and dont 
get eny Pay for it and he put me out the last 
of the fall to make my living after taking all I 
made whe cotton was 30 & 25 per Pound he would 
not let me sel after it to 18-17 cent Per Pound 
then he wanted me to sell then wanted me to 
sell when I could for paid by Debts and when I 
got in it would not covy my Debts then I will 
sell and will you Please report this for me. 

Please don't coat my name if you Public this 
Please dont call my name untill It come to trial" 

(b) February 16, 1921, another negro wrote 
the same party — 

"Dear Sir, i am ritting yo to get yo to Help 
me 1 am Having troubal please give my cas to the 
State official for me now Hear is my trouburl i 
rias woi'k a farm on sHears with a man name 

and he Has taken all that i Has made 

and now are Holding m_e cliaming i am still in 
dept to Him and now Wants me to work for $1.00 
a day and board my self out of it and i Has seven 
in family and i Hasto milk His cows and dont 
get any pay for it and he put me out the of the 
fall to make my living after taking all that i 



Made When cotton was 30 and 25 cents per pound. 
He wood not let me sell and it went to 18 and 17 
cent per pound then he wanted me to Sell when 
i could has paid by depts i could not get Ilim to 
Sell but when it got to Heir it would not pay me 
out then I could sell and yo please report this 
for me to the law and in the Spring this man 
goes to town and gets low graid of flour for a low 
price and Sold it to me for $4 a sack that wars 
$16 a barl and taken 10 per cent intres on it and 
i starded my accont the 9 day of February, and 
i stop it the first of november. and he charge 
me time price and 10 per cent intres for the full 
year. 

"And please let me Hear from yo soon and tell 
me what to do i cant tell gest all but this is the 
way this Hold country is standing and you please 
send this in to the White House for me and please 
dont call my name if you public this and dont 
call my name untell this goes to trial." 

"Dear Sir Hear is some more that happen this 

even Jest at Sun Set Mr drue some 

thing on me I can't say but he made at me with 
His Hand in His pocket but i ran and he comanded 
me to stop and I stopted and He told me if i did 
not get His money He was gonto get a mob and 
Kill me and it all stared becausse we faild to work 
for one dollar a day me and to others, and i am 
looking to hear from yo right away askin yo to 
save my life if yo can ack in time it is a mob 
crowd out today after a man and they said that 

they is gonto hang him tonight and Mr 

sais He is gonto Have me and killed 

and i am looking for yo to Help me by putting my 
case in the united State court and then yo Have 
thim to let me go In gail untill this is settle an 
that man that is to be hung to night they claime 
that He killed a white woman" 



Appeal to 
White House 



Haste Needed 
to Save Life 



Newspapers confirm the fact that the negro 
referred to in the last letter was lynched that 
night. 



THE NEGRO DRIVEN OUT BY 
ORGANIZED LAWLESSNESS 



COUNTY No. 9 

Case 26 1. A white man in this County received tl 

White Threatened following notice in January, 1921 : 

"Notice 

"To Mr you had better keei 

negroes out of this house of yours if you don 
everything you have got will be burned down t 
the ground. 

"beWare and take notice 

"NITE Rider. X" 



Case No. 27 
Terrorizing 
Railroad Laborers 



Cases Nos. 
28 and 29 
Beating 
and Coffins 



COUNTY No. 10 

2. Negroes were being worked on a railroac> 
in this County. A small mob visited the camp 
in February, 1921. They notified the white fore- 
man and the negroes that if they continued to 
work, while white men wanted jobs, they would 
be mobbed. A number of the negroes were fright- 
ened away. The sheriff of the county protests 
that there was no danger. This occurred Janu- 
ary, 1921. 

COUNTY No. 11 

3. December 31, 1920, a negro living in this 
County was taken from his home and badly 
beaten. 

The same month, small coffins gruesomely paint- 
ed, one marked with a skull and cross bones, were 
left on the porches of two negro homes. 



Cases Nos. 30-60 
Ku Klux Klan 



COUNTY No. 12 

4. Jauary, 1921, negroes in one district 
of this County were notified that no negroes 
would be permitted to remain in that district. 



At 2 A. M., January 12, a negro living in this 
district was called from his bed by unknown 
parties. They asked him if he had made threats 
against the Ku Klux Klan. He answered "no." 
He was informed that he would be given until 
Saturday night to leave the district; that if he 
did not leave, there would probably be war against 
him. They asked him if he had seen the notice 
posted on the nearby negro school house and said 
that notice meant all negroes must leave, and that 
they had notified thirty negro families that night. 
No negroes were to be permitted to remain in the 
district. Firing two shots in the air, the parties 
left. 



Negroes 
Must Leave 



The notice reads: 

"Notice to the Colored people of 

if you halvent got a job you had 

better get one at once. 

If you are not done gathering your 

crop you had better finish and settle 

your accounts. 

If you or disposing of your crop 

you had better be at home by dark 

If you havent got a lawful excuse 

for being out. 

"WHITE CAPS" 



The same night, the home of another negro 
farmer was fired into, the shot striking the ceiling 
just above the head of the bed. The negro was 
out of the house at the time. 

The Governor sent the Sheriff of the county 
a wire calling attention to the charges against 
the Ku Klux Klan and saying: "Negroes have 
been called from their homes, shots fired, threats 
made to do them physical injury, if they had not 
left by night. I have four affidavits of negroes 
who have never been in court and some of whom 
own their own homes. This is an outrage and 
I beg that you will go into this district this after- 
noon and tonight with ample force not only to 
protect these negroes, but for the purpose of mak- 
ing such a display as will deter these worthless 
white people from continuing their campaign of 
terror." 

January 17, the sheriff replied by letter : "Pur- 
suant to 3'our telegram, I have gone to the place 
directed by you and have made an investigation 



Case No 61 



Ku Klux Klan Seal 
on Letter of Public 
Official 



of the trouble credited to the Ku Klux Klan, and 
I find it is the general belief that it is not the 
Ku Klux Klan, but some lawless element in the 
community there causing the trouble. 

"As best I can find out, the Ku Klux Klan is 
also conducting an investigation for the purpose 
of ascertaining who the parties are in order that 
the law may be vindicated. 

"I shall keep in touch with the matter and co- 
operate with the citizens of the community affect- 
ed, and shall do all within my power to protect 
the citizens." 

The sheriff's letter bears the seal of the Ku Klux 
Klan and this endorsement — "Endorsed by Came- 
ron Klan — No. 17 — Realm of Georo-ia." 



COUNTY No. 13 

5. A negro was killed without excuse, it is 
said, by a deputy officer in this County in the lat- 
ter part of 1920. A negro minister in preaching 
the funeral said that some line of protection for 
the hves and property of negroes should be form- 
ed. As a result, leading negroes were ordered to 
leave the place, or suffer the consequences. Most 
of them left. Some armed themselves and re- 
mained. The better element of whites protected 
them. 



Town Acts 



Case No. 62 
Dynamite 



A Georgia newspaper commenting said: 

"The city of has redeemed 

itself in the eyes of the people. The decision of 
the officers there brought relief to the bewildered 
blacks who had committed no crime at all except 
that it is criminal to the lawless set of any com- 
munity that a negro show the slightest inclina- 
tion to protect himself. 

"All of these outbreaks, we believe, are the 
echoes from the discordant notes of the Ku Klux 
Klan, though they may be contrary to the in- 
tents, as advertised of that mysterious and use- 
less organization." 

COUNTY No. 14 

6. (a) A negro lodge room was dynamited in 
this County in February or March, 1921. In re- 
sponse to the Governor's proposal to offer a re- 
ward, the sheriff advises, "As yet, no arrests have 



been made, nor has any evidence been brought 
out which points to the guilty parties; however, 
I have been and am following up any leads that 
I get in this connection, and I believe that the 
best results could be had in bringing the guilty 
parties to justice by working quietly and I know 
that local conditions will not be improved by an 
offer of reward at this time." 

(b) The Grand Master of Negro Masons, for 
Georgia, March 9, 1921, wrote: 

"I am very sorry to learn of the uncalled for 
trouble in your community, as to the burning of 
halls, etc. I know it is hard, yet I would advise 
the brothers to put their trust in God, and hold 
their meetings in the day time, and attend to 
their business in a quiet and brotherly way. Do 
not hold long meetings and attend only to Ma- 
sonic matters, which I know you always do, and 
nothing else. 



"I do not think that the white people in your 
community object to the colored Masons meeting 
to prepare, in their humble way, to care for the 
sick and burj^ the dead. I know that our people 
in the rural districts are having a hard time, 
which, I hope, God in His good judgment will ad- 
just." 



Whites Cannot 
Object 



COUNTY No. 15 

7. (a) January, 1920, the negroes living in one 
district of this County, were threatened. Their 
churches, school houses and homes were burned. 
Several families were driven out of the commun- 
ity. A reward was offered by the county com- 
missioners and the sheriff was instructed to get 
the guilty parties. None were caught and con- 
victed but the trouble subsided. 



Case No. 63 



In January, 1921, conditions in this County 
were worse than ever. Houses occupied by ne- 
groes, some of whom own their farms, were posted 
with threatening notices. Letters ordering them 
to leave were sent them through the mails. In 
a week, fifty-one negroes, men, women and chil- 
dren fled to a nearby town, where they had to be 
supported by charity. The notice stated that no 
negro would be allowed to live from the river 
north of the town to the Blue Ridge Mountains. 



Wholesale Drive 



Cases Nos. 
64 to 114 



Case No. 115 In September, a negro received through the 

mails a notice saying: "A few words is easy un- 
derstood you gather up your crop and leave this 
country there is plenty of places will sute you 
beter than here, if you dont we will see after you 
later i will pass there again." 

Case No. 116 Another negro found in his mail box a notice 

saying: "We only give you all nigers 15 days 
to get from here." 

Case No. 117 One received a notice which read: "get away 

and get on you and old get away I 

dont give a dam what says you Beter 

get — I going to blow up old god dam you." 

Another negro received this: 

Case No. 118 "We have agreed to give you just 10 days to 

leave in and if you dont get out in 10 days we 
wont give you no further warning." 

Another notice read: 



Case No. 119 



White Courage 



Arson Threatened 



"Well the Dam Negro better get away from 
here and get away in a hurry you better away 

you dam negro you and old al the dam 

Negro is going to i am going to danimite you 

all up i dont care what say — you tell 

old and to get out — after the 

first of April no dam negro must not be seen this 

side of the river old and 

I dont care what says he can have all 

the guns he wants I dont fere him and no other 
dam man they are all men just like me." 

A white man, a leading citizen, on whose plan- 
tation a number of the negroes worked, had prom- 
ised them protection. He gave them arms. He 
went to the man, whom he suspected to be at the 
bottom of the trouble and warned him that if a 
negro on his place were harmed, he would neither 
eat, nor sleep until he had treated that man as he 
would treat a rattle snake. None of his negroes 
were actually harmed, but most of the negroes 
later left his place. 

Another white farmer, living in this County, 
stated publicly that he would protect the negroes 
on his place. A letter threatening to burn his 
hom.e and cotton gin was received by him. 



(c) The name of the man commonly reported 
to be the leader in this lawlessness in this County 
is known. 

COUNTY No. 16 

8. (a) Negroes working in a plant in this 
County were ordered to leave. An effort was 
made to dynamite their sleeping quarters at the 
company's camp. Armed guards were stationed 
there. One fired at the gang who attempted to 
light the fuse to the dynamite under the quar- 
ters. The company procured guns and ammuni- 
tion for the protection of their hands. 

(b) In this County, a man and his brother are 
commonly reported to be the leaders in lawless- 
ness. 

COUNTY No. 17 

9. The gang which attacked the Company 
Camp in County No. 16 came from this County, 
where one man is reported to be the leader. 

COUNTY No. 18 

10. No negroes remain in this County. 

COUNTY No. 20 
11. The negroes have gone from this County. 



Leaders 
Known 



Case No. 120 



Negroes Gone 



THE NEGRO SUBJECT TO INDIVIDUAL 
ACTS OF CRUELTY 



COUNTY No. 21 



Cases Nos. 
121 to 123 

A Thrifty Negro 



War Work 



A Line Dispute 



1. Near a small town in this County a negro 
was born fifty-eight or sixty years ago. By work, 
he accumulated a little money with which, ten 
years ago, he bought a farm of 140 acres, where 
he lived with his wife and twelve children. Three 
of his daughters were educated. They were 
school teachers. 

A three-room house was on the farm. The 
farm was well stocked, the negro owning in 
1919 outright five mules, and having made pay- 
ments on the purchase of a horse, a cow and 
thirty-five hogs. 

During the war with Germany, this negro fam- 
ily bought approximately $1,000 worth of liberty 
bonds and thrift stamps. The negro headed an 
organization of negroes, who raised between $10,7 
000 and $11,000 for liberty bonds. His work was 
highly praised by newspapers at the time. 

A white man, who can neither read nor write, 
owns a farm adjoining the farm of the negro. 
When the articles praising the man for his war 

work appeared, the white man remarked: " 

*s getting too damned prosperous and biggity for 
a nigger." Trouble began. 

The white man had his land processioned. The 
negro had no representative present. The proces- 
sioners ran the man's line twenty-five feet over 
the negro's line, across a terrace which had been 
there since the negro was a child working for the 
family, from whom he bought the land. The deed 
given to him covered the land to this terrace. 

The white man crossed the terrace, drove stakes 
along the new line and warned the negro not to 



cross the line. The negro disregarded the warn- 
ing and continued to plow to the terrace, as he 
had been doing since boyhood. 

Blacks and whites from the country crowd the 
town Saturday afternoons. One Saturday, the 
fall of 1919, the negro with his three daughters 
and son came to town. The town marshall ap- 
proached the negro in the street and said: "I 
have a warrant for you." 

The negro answered: "Mr , what 

have I done? Read your warrant." 

The marshall replied with an oath that he 
would rather kill the negro than read the war- 
rant. 



Arrested 



Here the evidence varies. The negro had a 
stick in his hand. Some say that the marshall, 
who is large and powerful, grabbed, the stick and 
struck the negro in the face with a pistol, knock- 
ing him down. Others state that the negro, raising 
his stick, backed away, when the marshall rushed 
in and struck him to the ground with his pistol. 
Several other white men rushed upon him and 
began to choke and beat him. 

Two of his daughters started to him. A man 
kicked one girl in the stomach. The other 
reached her father and began to wipe the blood 
from his face. The three were quickly overpow- 
ered. The third daughter and the son were 
caught. All were locked in jail. The girl who 
was kicked was menstruating. The blow made 
her deathly sick. She lay in jail moaning and 
begging that something be done for her, and her 
father, who was bleeding badly from his wounds. 
The sheriff locked them in and left them with- 
out medical attention and ignorant of the charge 
against them. 

Next morning the negro learned that his neigh- 
bor had sworn out a warrant against him for 
trespass. The sheriff refused to tell him what 
the charge was against his son and daughters. 
The negro employed a lawyer. Then he found 
that he and his daughters were charged with 
resisting an officer in the discharge of his duty, 
his son with carrying a pistol. Only one witness 
claimed to have seen the pistol. This was the 
white neighbor who said that he had seen the son 



Daughters Suffer 



Lynching 
Threatened 



Woman and Chil- 
dren Terrorized. 



put the pistol in the buggy, while the crowd was 
on his father. The buggy was searched. The 
pistol was not found. 

Talk of lynching the negro and his family 
caused their removal to another county. A com- 
mittee of citizens waited upon the judge of the 
corcuit, who informed them, it is charged, that 
he would put the negro in the chain gang, when 
the case should come up for trial. 

The man, his daughters and son were tried in 
the Superior Court. The father was sentenced 
to serve twelve months in the chain gang and 
pay a fine of $250.00. The girls were fined $50.00 
each. The son was fined $100.00. The negro 
paid the fines of his children. 

The man's smaller children and his wife were 
in his home, while he was in jail. A mob led by 
the town marshal went to the house, kicked the 
door and demanded admittance, then shot up the 
house and went away. This was night. 

Next morning, the woman with her children, 
fled from her home, never to return. 

A friend went by night and removed the live 
stock belonging to the family, and sold it for 
them at a great sacrifice. Their crop was a total 
loss. They will be lynched, it is said, if any of 
them ever return to their home. 

Reputable merchants and bankers in this 
county unite in giving the negro and his family 
a good character. The son has been offered a 
loan of $450.00 by a leading farmer to pay a 
note, the holder of which threatened suit during 
these troubles. A leading merchant gave the 
father a line of credit running from $800.00 to 
$1500.00 a year. One of the best citizens of the 
county signed his bond. 



Thrift Sole 
Offense 



The education of his children and the success 
of his thrift seem to be the sole offense of the 
negro. 



COUNTY NO 22. 



Case No. 124 
Army Service 
Penalized 



2. A white citizen of this County had a negro 
boy arrested for failing to comply with his con- 
tract to work for him. The boy's defense was — 



He was drafted for service in our army, where he 
served fifteen months. This service caused him 
to break the contract. 

A successful negro farmer came to the court Negro Bonds- 
house of the County to sign the boy's bond. The man Shot 
accuser was there. When the negro was signing 
the bond, which the sheriff said he would accept, 
the white, declaring "No Nigger shall help 
another nigger to beat me out of my money", shot 
the negro twice. 

No effort was made to arrest the white man, 
and the first grand jury refused to indict him. 
Subsequently he was arrested, indicted and con- 
victed in April, 1920, of "shooting at another." 
His sentence was 12 months and 6 months in jail 
or a fine of $300.00. The negro recovered. 

The character of the white is shown by his con- A White 

viction of rape upon a negro woman under circum- Character 
stances so vile that a white jury convicted him 
and sentenced him to twelve months in the peni- 
tentiary in January, 1920. 



COUNTY NO. 23. 

3. In November, 1920, a negro preacher was 
forced at the point of a pistol to enter a motor 
car. He was carried three miles into the coun- 
try, stripped, tied to a log and beaten. He was 
left unconscious. When he recovered conscious- 
ness, he left the County. He knows the names 
of those who beat him, but dares not tell for fear 
of death. The sheriff of the County writes the 
Governor : 

"I understand this negro has been trying to 

organize the negro women at not to 

..wash or cook for the white people only for a cer- 
tain price is the reason he was whipped. I also 
don't think it would do any good to offer a re- 
ward, because we won't be able to convict any- 
body unless the negro that got whipped will 
swear to the parties." 



Accused of 
Organizing 
Wash Women 
and Beaten 



COUNTY NO. 24. 

4. In this County, 

(a) Two negro women and a man, the nephew 
of one of the women, lived together. Whites 



Case No. 126 
Crimes Against 
W^omen 



drove the man away and debauched the women. 
The men were prosecuted and made to pay a small 
fine. 



Case No. 127 (b) A poor white family, the father suffering- 

from tuberculosis, lived near the negroes. The 
negroes helped the whites. Two girls were in the 
white family. It was charged that the negro, 
who was helping them, was going to their home 
for immoral purposes. The negro was lured from 
his home at night and shot to death. 

Case No. 128 (c) A doctor called, found a negro with his 

brain laid bare by the blunt end of an axe. The 
doctor informed the man's employer, the owner 
of a large saw-mill, that he was afraid to handle 
the case without assistance. The employer re- 
plied "That is my best nigger, get your other 
doctor and save him and send the bill to me." 



Fear Rules 



When the negro had barely recovered, the doc- 
tor asked him the name of his assailant. 

The negro answered: "Why, Boss, I can't tell 
you." 



Case No. 129 (d) The owner of a gin had several negro 

Dynamite tenants on farms owned by him. One of the ne- 

groes was whipped and taken away. The owner 
of the gin protested. He was warned that all of 
his negroes would have to leave. He organized 
a guard and outwitted the plotters. His gin was 
dynamited and destroyed. 

Case No. 130 (e) At the same time the home of another 

man, who had given evidence that led to the dis- 
covery of a still and the conviction of its owner, 
was blown up with dynamite. Witnesses who ap- 
peared against these outlaws were warned to leave 
the country. 



Case No. 131 (f) A negro complained in a peonage case. 

At the trial in Atlanta, he appeared as a witness. 
Fearing to return to the County, he went else- 
where to live. The son of his former employer 
discovered where he was living, secured a warrant 
for his arrest and brought him back. He disap- 
peared. 



A boy fishing, found a skull in the stream. 
Search was made. A body was unearthed. In 
a pocket was found a card identifying the corpse 
as that of the missing negro. 



Gruesome Find 



COUNTY No. 25 

5. (a) March 28, a negro was whipped and 
left almost dead upon the ground by a white man, 
it is charged. The negro had disputed the word 
of the man's bookkeeper in his saw-mill. The 
negro has disappeared. 

(b) March 30th, a negro, said to have been 
held in peonage, appealed to a justice of the peace. 
In the presence of the justice, a Marshal is re- 
ported to have beaten the negro with an axe han- 
dle. Nothing has been done to the Marshal. 

(c) December, 1920, a white man is reported 
to have killed a negro for trying to leave his 
place. The white has not been arrested. 



Case No. 132 



Case No. 13.3 



Case No. 134 



COUNTY No. 26 

6. The sheriff of this County with two other 
men were in an automobile on the road to the 
County site. They were drinking. The sheriff 
asked a negro in the road to get him a drink of 
water. The negro answered that he was not at 
his own home, but that he supposed there would 
be no objection to getting him a drink of water. 

The sheriff left the car and struck the negro 
twice with a pistol. The man brought the water. 
The sheriff made him get in the car, carried him 
300 yards, and made him leave the car and go 
into the woods, where he beat him over the head 
with a pistol and stick. The bleeding negro was 
forced into the car again and made to lie down. 
He was carried ten miles, the sheriff kicking him 
in the body and head. One eye was virtually 
knocked out. There the sheriff made him get 
out. He was beaten again on his naked body. 
The sheriff stopped to cut another stick, when one 
of his companions advised the negro to run if he 
wished to live. 

This he did, hiding in the woods until later a 
passerby carried him into town. The sheriff was 
indicted for assault with intent to murder. He 
was acquitted. 

The negro beaten, has the reputation of being 
a peaceable, law abiding, hard working man. He 
was threatened with death, if he testified against 
the sheriff. 



Case No. 13.5 
Cruelty of 
Drunken Sheriff 



Threat of Death 



THE REMEDY 



Publicity 



The Social 
Gospel 



Compulsory 
Education 

Committees 
on Race 
Relations 



Repeal 
Certain Laws 



To end these conditions I would suggest 

1. Publicity, namely, the careful gathering 
and investigation by Georgians, and not by out- 
siders, of facts as to the treatment of the negro 
throughout the State and the pubHcation of these 
facts to the people of Georgia. 

2. An organized campaign by the Churches 
to place in every section of Georgia a sufficient 
number of Sunday Schools and Churches, where 
in their separate places of worship, the young 
and old of both races will learn from suitable 
teachers the gospel of justice, mercy and mutual 
forbearance for all. 

3. Compulsory education for both races. 

4. The organization of State Committees on 
race relations, one Committee composed of lead- 
ing white citizens, another of leaders among the 
negroes, and local committees made up in the 
same manner in each county of the State, the com- 
mittees to confer together when necessary con- 
cerning matters vital to the welfare of both races. 

5. The repeal of Code Section 716, which to- 
gether with 715 reads : 

"715. Procuring money on contract for ser- 
vices fraudulently. If any person shall contract 
with another to perform for him services of any 
kind, with intent to procure money or other thing 
of value thereby, and not to perform the service 
contracted for, to the loss and damage of the 
hirer, or, after having so contracted, shall procure 
from the hirer money, or other thing of value, 
with intent not to perform such service, to the 
loss and damage of the hirer, he shall be deemed 
a common cheat and swindler, and upon convic- 
tion shall be punished as for a misdemeanor. 

"716. Proof of intent to defraud. Satisfactory 
proof of the contract, the procuring thereon of 
money or other thing of value, the failure to per- 
form the services so contracted for, or failure to 
return the money so advanced with interest there- 
on at the time said labor was to be performed, 
without good and sufficient cause, and loss or 



damage to the hirer, shall be deemed presumptive 
evidence of the intent referred to in the preced- 
ing section." 

6. The enactment of laws — 

(a) Establishing a state constabulary under State 
proper safeguards and authorizing the Governor, Constabulary 
upon his own motion, to send members of such 

force into any County of the State to quell disor- 
der or to protect the life and property of any citi- 
zen. 

(b) Imposing a financial penalty upon any Penalty on 
County in which a lynching may occur, when the County 
officials of that county have failed in their duty. 

(c) Authorizing the Governor of the State to Investigation 
appoint at any time any three judges of the Su- of Lynchings 
perior Court to act as a commission to investi- 
gate any lynching occurring in any County of the 

State and empowering the Governor to remove 
from office any public official found by such com- 
mission to have failed to enforce or uphold the law. 

(d) Giving the Governor the discretion and Juries Drawn 
power in any case of mob violence or lynching to ^^.^^^ State 
authorize and direct any judge of the Superior 

Court to draw grand and petit juries from the 
State at large for the consideration and trial of 
such cases, and authorizing the Governor to desig- 
nate the place at which the trial or trials shall be 
held. 



RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED 

BY CONFERENCE AT ATLANTA 
APRIL 22, 1921 



WHEREAS, Governor Hugh M. Dorsey in the foregoing statement 
has called to our attention specific charges made to him as Governor 
with reference to the treatment of the negro in Georgia, and has sug- 
gested certain steps to remedy the conditions shown by said charges : — 

BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the undersigned, endorse the state- 
ment made by the Governor and give our unqualified approval to the 
remedy suggested by him. 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we do hereby accept the ap- 
pointment as members of the white State Committee on Race Relations 
tendered to us as individuals by Governor Dorsey. 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Chairman of this meet- 
ing be made permanent Chairman of the Committee on Race Relations 
with authority to appoint an Executive Committee of seven or more 
members who shall at once inaugurate a campaign to carry forward 
the organizat:'on of local committees on race relations and the consid- 
eration by them and by all other" organized groups of citizens in our 
State of the facts and remedies submitted by the Governor. 



Andrew J. Cobb, Athens, Ga. 
Bishop H. J. Mikell, Atlanta, Ga. 
Jas. P. Faulkner, Atlanta, Ga. 
Nath Thompson, Norcross, Ga. 
Burr Blackburn, Atlanta, Ga. 
M. C. Greene, Gray, Ga. 
M. Ashby Jones, Atlanta, Ga. 
John A. Manget, Atlanta, Ga. 
G. R. Glenn, Dahlonega, Ga. 
Mrs. Z. I. Fitzpatrick, Madison, Ga. 
Marion M. Jackson, Atlanta, Ga. 
George W. Andrews, Atlanta, Ga. 
L. D. Newton, Atlanta, Ga. 
E. Marvin Underwood, Atlanta, Ga. 
Mrs. Archibald Davis, Atlanta, Ga. 
Mrs. J. N. McEachern, Atlanta, Ga. 
J. Bailey Gordon, Rome, Ga. 
David Marx, AtlallanGa. q /> 
Wm. H. Barrett, AtRens, G^f?* O 



Plato Durham, Atlanta, Ga. 

S. L. Morris, Atlanta, Ga. 

Harry Curtis, Macon, Ga. 

H. A. Etheridge, Atlanta, Ga. 

Thomas Johnson, Atlanta, Ga. 

James Morton, Atlanta, Ga. 

W. Woods White, Atlanta, Ga. 

Mrs. Luke Johnson, Griffin, Ga. 

James B. Nevin, Atlanta, Ga. 

John D. Moss, Athens, Ga. 

HomeV L. Grice, Washington, Ga. 

John J. Eagan, Atlanta, Ga. 

W. B. Hill, Atlanta, Ga. 

Wm. Bradford, Atlanta, Ga. 

D. Turner Quillian, Gainesville, Ga. 

W. W. Alexander, Atlanta, Ga. 

C. B. Wilmer, Atlanta, Ga. 

M. L. Brittain, Atlanta, Ga. 

M. S. Hodgson, Athens, Ga. 

W. W. Orr, Atlanta, Ga. 






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